MARTIN O'Connor started his career in the local non-League game. It was whilst he was at Bromsgrove Rovers that Crystal Palace gave him his Football League chance, paying £25,000 for his services in 1992.

He was only given four first-team outings by The Eagles and was allowed to have a loan spell with The Saddlers where his combative and committed style soon found favour.

The fruitful loan spell prompted a £40,000 switch to Bescot Stadium in February 1994 and during the course of 113 games in all competitions he proved to be a key figure, helping the club gain promotion in 1994/95.

Having been named in the PFA Division Two team at the end of the 1995/96 campaign, he joined Peterborough United in controversial circumstances that summer.

The Posh were ordered to pay just £350,000 for his services by a transfer tribunal and just months later they sold him on to Birmingham City for just over £500,000.

He soon established himself in the engine room of The Blues team and was a well-respected figure for his positive, hard-working and no-nonsense approach.

He went on to make well over 200 appearances for the club, including helping them reach the Final of the League Cup in 2001, before Colin Lee brought him back to Walsall in February 2002 as we looked to establish ourselves in what is now known as The Championship.

Once more he impressed in the heart of the team, adding another 53 outings to his tally before linking up with Shrewsbury Town in the summer of 2003. His next move took him to Kidderminster Harriers two years later before he landed the job as manager of Halesowen Town during the course of 2006/07.

Still turns out for the Walsall Veterans team and gets along to the Banks's Stadium whenever his commitments allow.